What character or way-of-being should an investor most want to master?

The answer is PATIENCE. Like an asset category that gives investors positive rates of return, investing with patience may be an investor’s greatest ally. Conversely, a lack of it could be their worst enemy.

Dalbar’s annual study of investor behavior reveals global investors lean toward short-term investing, expecting to hold investments for a little over three years on average. Less than a fifth of investors hold investments for at least five years. In the context of implementing a successful investment strategy, this is not investing with patience.

Dropping your kids off at preschool becomes moving them into a dorm in the blink of an eye. With practical steps and effective planning for saving for college, you can reduce the financial stress for you and your family. Offsetting the cost of college For the 2013-14 academic year, the average annual cost (room, […]

Sounds like a dream come true, right? Coming into a significant amount of money can be a huge blessing, but few people realize it can also be stressful, confusing and overwhelming — IF you don’t know how to manage your windfall, that is. The proper management depends on the type and amount of windfall you […]

Kansas City and Overland Park investors need objective financial advice. Unfortunately, many are misled by financial firms that focus on selling products and attempting to convince others their research tells them what the market’s going to do next; and more importantly that you can profit from it. Dr. Benjamin Graham, who coined the term The […]

Kansas City and Overland Park investors should implement financial plans and investment strategies that satisfy the many needs of specific life events. Caring for elderly parents is a LIFE TRANSITION that requires a financial strategy. The Home Run Living process is a collaborative process that creates customized life-long financial strategies for up to 63 life-transitions. […]

Overland Park and Kansas City investors should consider broader diversification in their financial planning and investment strategies. Refer to the chart below and see the average annual difference between investor returns and fund returns; it will always be lower……..

Overland Park and Kansas City investment advice and financial planning update: the market has experienced some volatility for the start of 2014—I’m sure you’ve noticed. The media is having a “hay day” with this one too; so if you watch ANY kind of news programming—ALL the networks are talking about this. They’ll probably have “experts” […]

Financial planning investment advice that’s given to Kansas City and Overland Park investors should not only include buy and hold, but rebalancing. Steve Atkinson posted a great article in Financial Planning–an industry publication for advisors like myself. He points out that perceptions of buy and hold strategies are joked about primarily by those that promote […]

Financial planning advice for investors: don’t attempt to predict when the next downturn will occur. Assuming you’re correct and predict this, you also have to predict the next upturn. And gains in the market happen so rapidly that not even professional money managers can beat market rates of return over long periods. See chart below: […]

“Where should I put my retirement money? What should I invest in? Stocks? Bonds? What’s the right mix? Should my asset allocation change as I get older? How about my 401k?” These are perplexing questions to answer—especially when thinking about the importance of needing money at retirement. Retirement planning should include a superior allocation strategy; […]